Charles Barkley Offers to Pay for Funerals of Three Children Murdered Last Week in Philadelphia

Last week, the city of Philadelphia suffered a horrific tragedy. Two young men allegedly carjacked and sexually assaulted the owner of an SUV, then fled the scene in the vehicle and eventually crashed into a fruit stand, killing three children.

Cornelius Crawford, 23, and Johnathan Rosa, 19, have been charged with second degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery. The children were 15-year-old Keierra Williams, 10-year-old brother Thomas Reed, and 7-year-old Terrence Moore. They were working the fruit stand for a local church with their mother, 34-year-old Keisha Williams, when the SUV blew a tire and went flying.

So what does this have to do with sports, you ask? Well, rest assured I’m not just trying to bum you out. This story does not have a happy ending, but there is one aspect that will give you hope for humanity.

You see, according to Philadelphia district attorney Seth Williams, Hall of Fame power forward and former Philadelphia 76er Charles Barkley heard about the tragedy and offered to pay for the funerals of the three children.

“Like most Philadelphians, many Americans, and people across the world that heard about this and were moved, [Barkley] wanted me to know that he wanted to pay for the funeral for these three children, and I put him in touch with the family so he can do that,” Williams explained to Philly.com.

Barkley later confirmed to local NBC affiliate WCAU that he had indeed offered to pay for the funerals. However, he declined to make any further comment out of respect for the victims.

Obviously, we like to make fun of Charles Barkley a lot, because he puts on a pretty ridiculous public persona. But you really have to give the man credit here. This was a classy thing to do.